instagram

AOHA Mr. Hand.  Its been a VERY long time since I’ve connected with people.  One part has been due to some life changes.  Actually all parts have been due to life changes.  No longer am I waking up at 4:00am, drinking coffee, collecting my lunch and heading for the wharf to lobster.  Now I am waking up at 5:00am, drinking coffee, collecting my lunch and heading to an “office job”.  I’ve tried hard to shake a lot of habits I used to have around the JOY and anxiety of earning a living off the water but that really shouldn’t mean that I abandon my love and passion for the ocean and being able to express that with the www.  So I am slowly (slowly.) going to work myself into the routine of posting OCEAN and COMMERCIAL FISHING “stuff”.  

So here it is.  Are you on Instagram?  If you are here are some awesome people/organizations you should check out.

1) Twofinbluna   -stick fisherman

2)  fvcameronlee  -Lobster

3)  dayboatfish  -Sustainable fishing

4) captain_aaron  -Awesome fishing.  Dragger mostly?

5)  three_jays  -International champion

If you have an account you should add em.  Great stuff.  Here we go.

 

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Maine Shrimp Season

Hauling back on shrimp ’11

ASMFC Northern Shrimp Section Establishes Moratorium for 2014 Fishing Season

Portland, ME- The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section approved a moratorium for the 2014 northern shrimp fishing season. The results of the 2013 Assessment Report for Gulf of Maine Northern Shrimp indicate the northern shrimp stock is overfished and overfishing is occurring. Northern Shrimp abundance in the western Gulf of Maine has declined steadily since 2006. Current biomass (500mt) is the lowest value in recent history, estimated at 5.2% for the biomass reference period (1985-1994), and well below the biomass threshold of 9,000 mt and the biomass limit of 6,000mt. Additionally, there has been recruitment failure for the past three years. The Northern Shrimp Technical Committee considers the stock to have collapsed with little prospect of recovery in the near future.

“Shrimp is just one of those treasures in the winter of Maine,” says Taylor, who co-owns the upscale Hugo’s Restaurant in downtown Portland with Wiley. The restaurant sits just yards from the city’s working waterfront and the two pride themselves on serving fresh, local seafood. NPR’s Full Story

Fishermen will lose income and shrimp processors fear their industry will be harmed worldwide because of regulators’ decision Tuesday to cancel the 2014 shrimp fishing season in the Gulf of Maine in response to the species’ collapse. Portland Press Herald

“The Northern Shrimp Technical Committee has considered the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp stock to have collapsed with very little hope for recovery in the near future,” said committee chairwoman and marine biologist Kelly Whitmore to a shrimp fishing advisory panel in Portland, Maine, on Tuesday, according to The Bangor Daily News. “There are no small shrimp around right now. It doesn’t bode well for the future.”

“It’s the lowest biomass in history,” said Terry Stockwell of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, according to The Associated Press, which notes also that this is the first time in 35 years that the entire shrimp season has been brought to a halt — the last time it happened was in 1978, when shrimp harvests plummeted to historic lows. (They rebounded in subsequent years.) HufPo

The shrimp harvest averaged about 25 million pounds a year from 1969 to 1972 before falling to under 1 million pounds in 1977, leading to a closure of the fishery a year later. There were similar down cycles in the late 1990s and early last decade. After each bust, the industry had to rebuild after losing customers. Kim Libby, whose husband fished for lobster last summer and hoped to fish for shrimp this winter, said the regulators’ decision came as no surprise. That didn’t make it any easier, though.
“Let me put it this way: We have no prospects of any income for the winter. With the stocks in such hard shape, we expected it,” she said from her home in Port Clyde, where one of her husband’s two boats needs repairs.
gloucestertimes.com

Climate change and overfishing may have contributed to yet another dead fishery. If management of the shrimp industry had been different this is an industry that would still be able to support many through the winter. We are trapping our fishermen into specialized classes. Gone are the days when a man could fish through the year on different species. Maine is a unique place with a huge emphasis on the foodie sub culture favoring local and sustainable products. We could have had something special.

Oh. And if the lobster industry falls out….what really happens?

Get Me This Boat! Fair Warning

Wesmacs are where its at right now. Great reputation for being a sea kindly boat with the ability to hit some impressive speeds.

Love the commentary in this video. Worth the watch alone.

Members of the New Lobster Board Named

See the Full Article

By Jessica Hall jhall@pressherald.com
Staff Writer

The Maine Department of Marine Resources has chosen a mix of branding experts, lobstermen, business owners and state officials for the board of directors of the new Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. The appointees, announced Monday, will work to market and promote Maine lobster as part of an effort to increase demand and help Maine’s economy. Last year, Maine lobstermen hauled a record 123 million pounds of lobster, up 18 percent from 2011, but the total wholesale value dropped 1.1 percent, to $331 million.

“We sought out a board of leaders, innovators, marketing experts, harvesters, processors, dealers, small-business owners and people who are eager to re-energize the Maine Lobster brand,” Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources, said in a written statement. “I am confident that they will be successful in setting an effective marketing course for the future and creating a new high level of excitement and demand for Maine Lobster.”

The board will have 11 members, including Keliher, and one seat remains unfilled. Keliher, who led the selection process, will continue to review nominees for the remaining position.

Besides Keliher, the board includes:

Karan Cushman, president of Cushman Creative, a branding company.

George Gervais, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.

Frank Gotwals, a commercial lobsterman and a board member of the Stonington Lobster Co-op.

Luke Holden, president and founder of Luke’s Lobster and a managing partner and co-founder of Cape Seafood LLC.

Emily Lane, vice president of sales for Calendar Islands Maine Lobster Co. and a former Maine Lobster Promotion Council board member.

Peter Miller, a commercial lobster harvester, owner of Miller’s Wharf Lobster and former Maine Lobster Promotion Council board member.

Paul Paradis, a Bar Harbor town councilor who owns Paradis True Value in Bar Harbor.

Hugh Reynolds, owner of Greenhead Lobster in Stonington, one of Maine’s largest purveyors of live lobster.

Vaughn Stinson, chief executive officer of the Maine Tourism Association.

Thanksgiving: Lobster Anyone

See the Full Article

(PRWEB) November 25, 2013

Family and friends gathered around the Thanksgiving table, passing around lobster stew, baked stuffed lobster, turkey with lobster stuffing, and lobster biscuits with gravy? This may not read like a traditional feast, but the truth is that it is for a growing number of families in the country.
For many, Thanksgiving—and pretty much any holiday dinner—is not just a past-time, it’s also showtime. Platters covered with crudités, bowls filled with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, and pies line the kitchen counter, often defining the traditional holiday meal. And while many can’t imagine missing out on Grandmother’s herb and chestnut stuffing or Mother’s turkey gravy, there’s another contingent of Americans out there eager to break out the large pot, strap on bibs, and sink their teeth into lobster—lobster served up in just about any dish, any way one can imagine.
“People are looking for the heart and soul of a really special Thanksgiving feast,” says Mark Murrell, owner of GetMaineLobster.com, an online lobster and seafood delivery service, who’s seen an increase in the amount of lobster he sells over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, “and there’s a lot you can do with lobster without sending the turkey packing.

I mean can lobster really ever replace the ritual of feast that is a stuffed bird on the table? Hard to say but adding a serving plate with some Maine lobster isn’t that crazy of an idea. If you have access to the resource clear some space on the table!!

Dumping Day Postponed!

FROM THE NOVA NEWS
Dumping day postponed to Friday
TinaTina Comeau

Lobster boats like these ones in Pinkneys Point will stay tied up until Friday, Nov. 28 as winds have delayed the start of the lobster season. There will be no lobster fishing until Friday, Nov. 29.

Because of strong winds forecasted for throughout this week a decision was made during a Sunday afternoon (Nov. 24) conference call to postpone dumping day in LFA 34 until Friday.

Credit: Tina Comeau

Maybe the price will go up????

Blowin Fit to Make a Rabbit Cry

Salty Days Ahead

All this wind has got me all spun up right about now. Could be a few days before the feet hit deck again huh?

Update From Bay of Fundy

CBCNews
A June report from Fisheries and Oceans Canada says Bay of Fundy records have been broken five years in a row. A spokesperson said it was too early to predict how this fall season will turn out.

But the president of the Grand Manan Fishermen’s Association also says things are looking good, even though fishermen in that area started three days later than expected due to foul weather.

“Some of them have had record catches,” Brian Guptill said, noting the shells are hard, and quality is good.

See the full Article

Well just when it seems like many fishermen in Maine are getting just plain sick and tired of the season, favoring the wood stove over the gunwale these fellas in Fundy are getting underway and humbly just crushing landing records. Plenty o cash in the pocket for an extra pack of lucky strikes. Good for them. We can all be friends when we aren’t competing with them for markets during the big months of summer. right?

Some Down East fishin

I’m still not quite sure yet that “Symphony” is an appropriate word to use in the title of this one because if we are using it here to describe the different “movements” of lobstering (you know like the various movements of a symphony) I’m just not convinced that this is a Bach or Chopin or even Schubert level. Harmony? We can get better.

Love how the 1st helper is just bailing food into his face before the first trap breaks the rail. Gotta get the nourishment when you can! And nice BTB at the 2:27 mark. Sweet! Whats going on with the Captain? Shouldn’t he ought to have a chair?

Baby lawbstahs and settlement

Photo credit: Portland Press Herald

How baby lobsters hold clues to the future: Yarmouth County Vangaurd

Newly-settled lobsters (one to three months old when found by biologists), look exactly like an adult lobster, but are smaller than a quarter (scientifically speaking, when the body or carapace length is less than 13 mm long). Even older lobsters, from one to four years of age, are still able to easily fit into the palm of your hand. So traditional lobster traps can’t catch them at all.

Since 2007, up to 400 collectors have been deployed each year at various locations around Nova Scotia in water depths of 3 to 42 meters, usually from June to October. The collectors weigh about 300 pounds each, so they’re deployed and recovered using a commercial fishing vessel.

The concentration (number per unit area) of newly-settled lobsters differs a great deal across the different regions. In 2011, for example, the greatest concentration of lobster babies were found in St. Mary’s Bay (2.9 per metre squared) and the fewest in Port LaTour (0) and Lobster Bay (0.2 per metred squared). More importantly, baby lobster abundance shows good and “not so good” settlement years. Overall, 2011 had the lowest settlement in the most recent five years, while the years 2009, 2007 and 2005 had relatively good settlement. As the number of years of the monitoring increases, so does the ability to see patterns in settlement, including what factors might be behind these differences.Wind and temperature seem to be key variables, with certain winds and warm temperatures helping the young lobsters to stay in an area and survive to settle.

Here it is: High settlement counts should be able to predict good years of fishing. High numbers mean more of the population are likely to survive until reaching a marketable age. Low settlement counts are not so good and there are rumors circulating quietly that the settlement numbers in Maine waters have trickled downward over the past three years WHICH is strange because there have been a high number of reports by fishermen of egg bearing females caught as well as young egg bearing females. All those eggs would lead someone to think that the settlement rates in Maine would be pretty darn high. Not so. One thing Maine could do if there is a true fear of a sharp decline in settlement rates is to stock know nursery areas with these little fellas, monitor the site, and let nature take her course. Another thing that could be done is…nothing. Low settlement in one year means (usually) a decline in catch another, which could help up the demands of the market bringing a higher price for fishermen.